I had been wandering around my tower for oh…it must have been days. Sleep and food escaped me as I waited. I had called Him. It was foolish and stupid but I called him anyway. I looked over the pages of my book. I had done everything it said to do, but still nothing happened. Finally I had given up and reopened the shutters of my tower; it would show that I was allowing visitors again. I watched as the heat spells I had sewn into the brick started to activate and warm my tower. I happened to pass by one of the few mirrors I own. It, maybe by chance or fate, was the mirror of Truth. I paused to make sure I looked like I was in order to receive visitors. The plain red robe looked in order, and my hair was a little messy but who would care? No one, I doubt that anyone would even say anything about it, in fear I might turn my magic on them and something horrible would befall them. But something in the mirror changed. I could no longer see the walls of my tower, instead I saw darkness creep in and stars appear like they did in the sky.

I did not know what meaning that had for me right now, but I knew that I would find out soon. I reached the waiting area to find that the boys from the village I employed had returned once they learned that the tower was open again.

"Good morrow sire!" A bright boy by the name of Pip shouted when I entered. Pip was a little shorter then other boys, but he was bright and quick witted and always knew when to speak up and when to stay quiet. He had never given me any trouble in the past, so I liked him.

"Good morrow Pip, how fares your family?" I asked in my quiet, deep manner.

"Fine, but I think my little sister has come down with something sire." he told me, looking down a little when he spoke of his sister. She had always been a fragile thing.

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Pip. Tell your father to bring her here when he finds the time, I will take a look at her." I spoke trying to reassure him.

"Thank you, lord."

"You're welcome Pip; now let us see who has come to speak with me."

"Of course sire, you wish me to find out who is most important and bring them to you?" I nodded and listened as Pip spoke and watched him as he ran off toward the gate. I spent most of the day receiving merchants, tradesmen, and a fat lord who was annoyed at me for choosing a lesser lord to serve under.

It was well after midday when I received my last visitor. I was sitting in my study, looking through my books trying to find a spell for slowing poison, when a raven perched itself on a windowsill. I looked at the bird with curiosity. Ravens can carry many signs with them, some good, some bad, others worse. Then I remembered what was written in my book. He uses ravens to perform duties that he can not otherwise complete himself or has little time, or feels the task beneath him. I watched as the raven fluttered over to what was midair, one moment it was nothing, and then He was standing there. To say I was unafraid would be a gross mistruth; in fact, I was terrified of him.

He stood taller then I imagined, with his black cloak looking like endless sky, his black hair as messy as mine must have appeared, and his eyes. If my memory of this encounter with him wanes, I will always remember his eyes. Black as night and just as endless, like a lightless cave of shadows that seemed to go on forever. I was knocked speechless; I could only stare with my mouth agape as the raven perched on his right shoulder.

I suddenly remembered who I was and what I was doing, which was possibly insulting him. I snapped my book shut and rose to my feet, only to bow deeply at him, as is the custom of people of magic.

"My lord Morpheus, it is an…honor to have you in my humble home." I stated, my voice uneasy. "I was unsure if you would come at my request."

"I heard you call me some days ago, but the state of the Dreaming has required my full attention of late, and I do not usually take well to summons." He spoke as though he was all knowing, quietly noble, and with a whisper of the dreaming from which he comes from.

"I understand. I am grateful you have taken the time to see me."

"You are welcome, now may I ask why you have summoned me?"

"Oh of course Lord Morpheus, I have a wish to return a gem of the dreaming back to you." I waved my right hand in a circle to procure a box. It landed softly in my hands, it was a small box made from the darkest tree one could find. I opened the box to reveal a gem as yellow as the morning sun and as powerful as my master was in his old age. "My master spoke of his gem; he told me that whenever he held it he would see a dream. To him it was what he feared the most, a dragon he had locked away long ago that would come back and take its revenge on him. I held this gem once. I saw a dream that has haunted me for years. I saw my true love, and I wept for her when your elder sister took her from me." I paused to wipe a tear from my eye.

"And what is it you wish for me to do with his gem?"

"It is yours, is it not?"

"Yes. I created this long ago."

"Then I simply wish to return it to you so no one can use its power against anyone."

"Is that all?" He asked once I handed him the box and gem. I stood there, simply staring at the box.

"I do have one other wish."

"And that is?" I paused again once he asked me that question. I could have wished for many things, but there was only one thing I wished for more than being with Lilly again.

"I wish to keep magic alive." He raised his eyebrow at me. "Should magic ever leave this world, I wish that people could still keep it in their hearts and in their dreams. So that long after I am dead and buried, and my successor takes over my tower and performs his sworn duties to his lord, that I can rest happily when your elder sister comes to take me." He thought about what I had said, it seemed that years melted away from my heart as he pondered.

"So be it." He finally spoke and I felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from my heart.

"Thank you, Lord Morpheus." I bowed deeply again and when I rose, he was gone.

"Now I can recall that story for many reasons, I have insured that no matter what the magic will live on long after we are all gone. Do you understand Pip?" The old mage asked the young man of two and twenty.

"Yes master, I believe I do." Pip told his master, as he sat at the edge of the bed and watched the old man who insured that magic lived on in the dreams of men forever.

"That's a good boy. I have grown tired, I will rest now Pip."

"I understand master, I will return to check on you a little later." His master only nodded a little when Pip spoke. He stood up and walked quietly into the hallway and then into the front hall. He was taken aback by a woman who was standing there. Her skin was as pale as the moon, and her hair as black as night, as was her dress. She had some kind of symbol painted on her face just below her eye. "Can I help you?" Pip asked uneasy and questioning.

"I am here for your master, I am afraid." She spoke softly with care and compassion. It only took Pip a minute to place where he had seen her.

"Oh…I see." Pip paused to the think of the proper words. "Will he rest easy?"

"If he chooses to." She smiled after she spoke. It was warm and cold at the same time. Pip only nodded and then led her to his master's room. She sat in the chair that hadn't moved for days. "He was a good mentor?" She asked quietly.

"He was a better friend, and the only father I had really known, you took my real father a little after my master spoke with your brother." She nodded and then touched the old mage. Pip saw his breathing stop, but he also saw him standing there next to her. He looked as young as Pip standing there; he smiled warmly at him, and patted his shoulder.

"You've made me proud, Pip." He told him and then walked out of the room, but she stayed.

"You've made his rest easy Pip, I thought you should know that."

"Thank you…can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Will he see Lilly again?"

"He wishes to."

"Ok…thank you again."

"Don't worry about it." Then she started to leave, but she paused to look back at Pip. She smiled and winked at him. Then they were gone, and Pip was left alone to grieve a little for his master.